


elevator ego.

by ichiinxx



Category: Durarara!!
Genre: Blood and Gore, Emotional Manipulation, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mind Manipulation, Near Death Experiences, Survival Horror, alternate universe — speed, hand holding!!!, izaya does everything for shinra, long(ish) fic, shinra & shizuo swear like it’s an olympic sport
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-10-19
Packaged: 2019-04-08 09:21:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,153
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14102322
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ichiinxx/pseuds/ichiinxx
Summary: shizuo was just trying to visit his younger brother in the hospital.⠀he never expected to be strapped to an active explosive and locked in an elevator with izaya and shinra.





	1. prologue.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kiichixo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiichixo/gifts).



> loosely based off the elevator scene in the movie: 'speed'.  
> updates every week if i can.

_16:00 hours - Saturday, June 15._

_Shinjuku Medical Facility._

 

 _"Oh._ He's awake," Izaya grumbled, face hovering above Shizuo's with a disgusted sneer. The ex-bartender scowled deeply, repulsed at the sight of waking up to that raven-haired bag of actual  _shit._ He spurred into action, however before any real damage could be done; Shinra latched two steady hands on Shizuo's shoulders and restrained the man from moving as best as he could.

"Okay listen," His voice pitched to octaves that Shizuo never even knew existed. The doctor's arms were visibly straining from trying to hold back the blond as he continued his explanation, "Stay calm, and try really hard not to panic," Shinra says, earning a cruel snort from Izaya.

Shizuo bat the doctor's hands away and tried to sit up. Shinra moved to stand in front of the informant, subtly trying to protect him.

"Where the hell are we? The fuck is this?" Shizuo demanded, standing up and immediately falling back against the wall of the tiny room they were in.

_Is this a fuckin' elevator?_

His head was swimming and he felt unnaturally drowsy. Somehow, this was all the flea's fault, he was sure of that. Shinra held out his hands worriedly, "You should really sit, Shizuo..." He suggested, eyes on the man's chest.

Izaya scoffed, "How 'bout we strap a bomb to you and see how calm _you_ feel, Shinra."

The doctor narrowed his eyes at the informant, "Izaya. So help me God, if you make him angry."

" _Bomb?_ " Shizuo asked, nose crinkling as he grew even more annoyed waiting for Shinra to move out of the way so he could pulverise the flea. Shinra poked gently at his chest with a solemn expression. Strapped to Shizuo's torso is a timer activated explosive that read 120:00.

 

_Woah... Wha-_

 

" _Please_." Shinra wheezed out,

"Stay fucking calm."

 

 

 

 


	2. pilot.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shinra might castrate izaya for waking him up that early.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> me, annoyed with my own portrayal of izaya: what the _fuck _izaya__

_1200 Hours. Two Weeks Prior._

_Unknown Location._

 

"You’re absolute on this?” A voice murmured over the phone, lips pursing and fingers faintly tapping in the midst of the background static. The man at his desk rifled through the papers on his desk and patting them gently.

“I would never lie about something relating to _him,_ ” He promised and relaxed, hearing a pleased sigh from the person on the other line.

“Excellent. Mail them as soon as it’s possible,” The voice ordered before the line between both people went dead with a monotone buzz.

The man set down the phone, listening to the satisfying click. He stood to fetch a envelope and prepare the rest of their plans. It was nearly complete and he could practically taste the satisfaction. Glancing at the two folders on his desk, he resisted the urge to laugh maniacally. He sneered. Organised neatly on his desk were the files of Shinra Kishitani and Shizuo Heiwajima.

 

“I hope you shatter, Orihara. I hope you break.”

 

**_-% & -_ **

 

_Present Time._

_1100 hours. Six hours earlier._

_Shinjuku Medical Facility._

 

Izaya Orihara jerked awake for the seventeenth thousand time that morning. The room he was in was silent, dim, and beyond being described as _boring_. It was intolerable and horrendously dull. Across the room in the lighter areas was Izaya’s friend Shinra Kishitani, a doctor working for the richest, most elite of illegal customers. Today, that customer would be Izaya’s crumb of a boss: Shiki Haruya. Izaya presumed that Shiki-sama was most likely Shinra’s most frequent dealer, as he admitted several enemies and allies of the Awakusu-Kai to his service.

Currently, Shinra was operating on an enemy of the Yakuza—an agent who’d decided to ditch the Awakusu-Kai and set off to America with a very pricey drug that Akabayashi entrusted to the man and four others. Thanks to Izaya’s watchful eyes and borderline stalking; they’d received the drug from the other four agents who’d transported the drugs safely to Shiki from Beijing, China. The man before Izaya and a handful of Shiki’s men, who had Shinra’s scalpel digging into the depths of his abdomen; was the traitor.

Izaya had nabbed him when he’d scrolled through the man’s communications and noticed a flight booked for the colonies from Hong Kong. Shiki tracked him and captured him immediately, then had him transported to the Shinjuku Hospital with a privately booked room. When Izaya had arrived under Shiki’s orders, he was slightly surprised that Shinra was there, inspecting his knives and tools.

Shinra wasn’t as pleased as Izaya was to see him. In fact, Izaya had hurried over to give the man a inviting pat on the shoulder, but backed off with feigning offense when Shinra brandished his favourite scalpel when Izaya came near.

Now he was reduced to watching Shinra dig around in the rogue agent for the drugs Akabayashi had implanted inside of him. It was dreadfully uninteresting and Izaya could barely muster excitement for the interrogation he had to conduct. He’d breezed over the questions Shiki had written for him to ask and they were uneventful and practically routine. Izaya would’ve made up his own to toy with the man before the Awakusu-Kai eliminated him in the most awful way that Akabayashi and Shiki could come up with, but the other Yakuza that had accompanied Izaya were stuffy and would probably tattle on him to Shiki for straying away from a clean interrogation.

Izaya would’ve even preferred Shizu-chan’s company over this. At least the big brute himself would’ve given Izaya something to do other than just sit around and watch Shinra. Then again, Izaya had a small, possible damage percentage of obtaining injuries and defects around that monster of a man. He didn’t like the sound of being disabled for future jobs that required a good amount of running. Shizu-chan was a real issue for Izaya and thus, with nothing else better to do, the informant began silently plotting another way to erase the protozoan from his life.

 

Shinra Kishitani couldn’t have been more furious with the Yakuza for showing up at his apartment at earlier that day at four in the morning. He’d known that Shiki had scheduled a very secret surgery on a man for a drug that was worth more than Shinra’s life: tripled. The doctor had rolled his eyes at Celty when Shiki explained the severity of it all, causing his lovely dullahan to seemingly giggle, the mysterious, black smoke emitting from her neck swayed joyously as Shinra blabbed away to Shiki Haruya, promising to be as merciless as possible to the man when he operated.

Shinra was no stranger to odd requests, whether it be extracting a drug from a human transport or removing bullet shards from another man in a gunfight during a ‘negotiation’. Shiki was a popular customer and payed the doctor handsomely. Although, Shinra was very aware of his untimely fate if he slipped one word of his cases to anyone. Regardless of the thousands of death threats, he spilt everything to Celty. He’d mentioned some things to Shizuo under less than decent circumstances, but he doubted either of them remembered anything that was spoken that night.

Izaya had come up to him after Shinra was brought to the Shinjuku hospital, eight hours after his ‘abduction’ from his apartment in the ungodly hours of the morning.

Shinra explained how he’d literally been dragged out of his apartment, protesting and whining about the absence of his glasses and medical bag. Orihara had laughed the whole time, finding the doctor’s misfortune absolutely hilarious.

 

Now, Shinra glanced up from his work to glance at the informant. Izaya’s elbow dug into his leg so that his chin could rest in the palm of his hand- and boy, did he look bored out of his mind. Shinra couldn’t bother to feel bad since it was that jerk’s fault that he was here; phone-less and exhausted. The lights in the room weren’t really helping either. The Yakuza had dimmed the lights to bring less attention to themselves, yet Shinra debated internally as he dug around in the unconscious man for the neon coloured drugs. If he’d seen a hospital room dimly lit, he’d be suspicious. His fingers brushed some plastic and Shinra gave a grunt of surprise.

Izaya jumped slightly as the Awakusu-Kai straightened as they watched Shiki’s favourite doctor pull the stolen drugs out of the man’s body and toss it haphazardly into the tin beside him. The informant stood, stretched, and walked over to his friend.

“Oooh, good job, Shinra!” He praised, patting the doctor on the shoulder. Shinra subtly sat up straighter, a small smirk on his lips. Izaya crouched down next to him and poked at the bag of drugs in the bloody tin. His lip curled with disgust.

“We can always count on you, Kishitani. For your extremely skilled fingers,” Izaya finished with a wink at the doctor. He collected the tin, stood back up, and ignored all of the nasty looks Shinra shot at him.

“Here you boys are,” Izaya hummed, handing the drug tin to one of the agents who grimaced at the smell or sight; Izaya wasn’t sure which. Shinra stitched the man back up and moved away to start cleaning up his tools. He was muttering about how much of a jerkoff Izaya was, no doubt.

“Okay, wake him up and we can get this boring interrogation over with,” The informant grunted.

The Awakusu-Kai seemed to enjoy this part. Shinra considered telling them not to be too extreme or they might rip open his carefully done stitches in the man’s abdomen, but thought better of it when he remembered this was some ruthless criminal and an enemy to Shiki Haruya. He still flinched at the heavy kicks and punches the Yakuza delivered to the man.

“His name’s Jutaro Akifumi,” Izaya said, all of a sudden beside Shinra. The doctor scoffed quietly as he scooted away from the informant.

“I don’t care,” He replied when Izaya cocked an eyebrow in question. He moved closer to Shinra’s disappointment. “Are you going to stay for the interrogation?” Izaya asked curiously, “We could get lunch afterwards!”

Shinra sighed knowing that he wouldn’t be able to say no to the informant.

_Poor Celty… Wait for me, my darling!_

“I guess,” Shinra replied flatly and uninterested. Izaya beamed beside him, clapping his hands together once before scurrying off towards the Awakusu-Kai members to start his questioning.

Shinra was left to swim through his sleep-plagued thoughts. He’d never seen the informant interrogate anyone ever, but he was sure it was absolutely horrid. Just knowing Izaya allowed Shinra to infer that much about the sessions. He leaned back in his chair as he cleaned the rest of his tools.

 

Izaya was squatting before the man- Akifumi, was it? Shinra’s grey eyes watched silently at his friend with slow interest.

“What exactly did you think would happen?” Izaya asked, dumbfounded, “The Yakuza tracks your communications. You didn’t think we’d notice you booking a plane and contacting your friends?”

Shinra couldn’t help to smirk when Akifumi squirmed before Izaya’s ruby gaze.

“Answer me,” Izaya grunted out, irritated, “I wanna get this over with! I have a lunch date~!”

A few of the Awakusu-Kai rolled their eyes at the childish informant with exasperation.

Akifumi shrugged in defeat. “It’s all just according to my plan,” He mumbled with a smile that concerned the eavesdropping doctor.

Izaya didn’t seem to care at all as he tilted his head. “And what plan is that?” He pressed urgently.

Akifumi’s eyes darted around before locking onto Shinra’s stormy ones and showed a toothy smirk before speaking, “To cripple the Awakusu-Kai, of course. Sending their intelligence out with a... _bang._ ”

Izaya scowled incredulously. “Cripple the intelligence of the Awakusu-Kai?” He asked and stood up with the confirmation of no further threat from this man, “The only thing you’ve crippled is your own intelligence.”

Shinra sighed softly. _Were interrogations always that weird?_

He zipped up his medical bag and crossed his legs. The interrogation dragged on.

Suddenly, Shinra was experiencing Orihara’s boredom from earlier. Eventually, digging his favourite scalpel into a loose piece of gauze grew bothersome. He had a mess of torn fabric in his palms and probably, a dull scalpel.

Finally Izaya uncrossed his arms, spurring Shinra into sitting up straighter as the room’s entire mood shifted.

“You’re in Shiki’s hands now,” Izaya states with a pleased hum, “You might die.” His chiding tone makes Shinra cringe. Only Izaya could be that pleased by his higher up eliminating an enemy. He shrugged, turning to Shiki’s men and motioning for them to finish up their work. Shinra watched as the men spurred to action, walking past Izaya to collect the traitor and get ready to depart, and drop him at the feet of the terrifying Shiki Haruya.

_How utterly unfortunate._

 

**_-% &-_ **

 

 

“Shizuo, I’m sure that Kasuka is fine,” Tom Tanaka is pleading, half-jogging, half-walking to keep up with his furious friend’s strides.

Shizuo doesn’t reply- not that Tom can honestly blame him, he’s beyond worried and perfectly pissed.

Tom recalls silently how his morning had gone from terrible to completely _shitty_. Shizuo’s yellow cell phone started ringing in the middle of a questioning with a lazy and unloyal debt owner. Shizuo would’ve ignored it, except it’s his younger brother’s name that lights up the notification bar and the man couldn’t refuse a call from Kasuka. Tom excused him for not even _five minutes_ before hearing a snarl and the sound of something breaking. Tom had prayed it wasn’t Shizuo’s cell phone, but he didn’t get anything he wanted that morning.

Apparently whilst filming in Shinjuku, Kasuka suffered a rigging accident and toppled down off some unsturdy set piece and shattered his arm. Ruri had been there, thank goodness, and had called the authorities to remove Kasuka and deliver him to the nearest hospital, which happened to be the Shinjuku hospital about ten miles away.

It was Ruri who had called Shizuo, urging him not to be too upset about it. After all, it was only an accident. Tom couldn’t tell if Shizuo was going to believe that- He figured he didn’t since he was making a beeline for the hospital to see Kasuka and make sure he was okay.

 

“Shizuo… Come on! You can’t just walk all the way to Shinjuku! That’s like a half-hour walk!” Tom protests, “Besides! It was just an accident. I’m sure Ruri-chan can handle it.” Shizuo only sighed irritably in reply. Tom thinks that he might’ve struck a nerve when Shizuo only walks faster. However, Shizuo mutters something about a ‘flea’ and ‘Shinjuku’s playground’. Tom understands and shoves two hands into his pant’s pockets with a knowing huff.

“I can’t spend too much replacing street lamps in Shinjuku, Shizuo,” Tom urges wearily.

Shizuo’s shoulders visibly hunch before he finally, verbally, responds to his friend. “I won’t get into fights with him,” He promises, but Tom’s gaze only gets more skeptical.

The blond’s phone is suddenly in Tom’s face, the two halting in their strides whilst Tom studies the phone’s screen.

On it is a message from Celty, one of Shizuo’s close friends. Tom doesn’t know much about the woman, except for the mysterious and slightly perverted doctor she resides with. And, that she occasionally spends time with Shizuo to relax his unsturdy nerves.

Anyway, the message was full of panic and worry about a missing Shinra Kishitani; which Tom assumed was the doctor. “He’s missing?” Tom inquired the blond curiously, “What happened to him?”

Shizuo reread Celty’s panicked message once more before pocketing his phone. “Apparently, you-know-who’s boss scheduled a emergency surgery and they; Izaya-kun and the Yakuza, must’ve collected Shinra early in the morning,” Shizuo guessed, “According to Celty, the surgery is taking place in the Shinjuku hospital.”

Tom nodded as Shizuo’s tone grew sharper.

“I get it now. You don’t want Kasuka near Orihara-kun, hm?” Tom asks confirming his suspicions.

Shizuo only nodded, “More or less, yeah.”

Tom sighed with a loose shrug, “I’ll walk with you then.”

His offer is more of a statement and the two head for Shinjuku.

 

**_-% &-_ **

 

Shinjuku is much nicer than Shizuo expects. The city has a faint scent of cherry blossoms and the streets are nowhere near as busy as Ikebukuro’s. Somehow, he can understand why the flea shit slunk over to Ikebukuro instead of messing up the routine here. It was beautiful- not that Izaya had an eye for anything pretty. (He’d find a way to twist it up and turn it into a nightmare.)

Tom looked like he was enjoying the view as well, hands buried in his suit pockets and humming to himself peacefully. The wonderful thing was that Izaya was somewhere with Shinra. The percentage of Shizuo seeing the piece of shit was two out of the millions of hospital rooms. (Then again, with his luck…) He shook it off. He was here for Kasuka and Ruri.

No distractions!

Tom stopped before the crosswalk that led to the hospital’s entrance. He gripped Shizuo’s arm gently and warningly. “Shizuo, remember that people come here to _heal,_ not to get a vending machine to the face. Alright?” Tom reminds the blond with a strained, but trusting tone.

Shizuo nods, determined to get in and get out after making sure his brother is okay.

“Call me,” Tom says with a cheery smile, his worried expression fading, “If anything goes wrong or if you need anything.”

Shizuo watches the man turn around to head back home. He waved and walked across the crosswalk, thankful for Tom. He was a generous and thoughtful person, viewing only the good about Shizuo. He never complained too much about the blond’s curse, but rather helped him relax instead.

 

Walking into the hospital, the usual smell of medicine and formaldehyde fills his nose. It’s not the best smell in the world, but Shizuo prefers the gas and smoke of Ikebukuro’s streets. He straightened the wrinkles in his sweater and looked around for the receptionist desk. Ruri had given him the room address, urging the man to hurry up.

Shizuo wandered past the numerous fake plants and people that swarmed around the hospital. It was unusually crowded for a hospital of a smaller city, but Shizuo couldn’t say he minded too much. It was kind of nice.

He reached the main desk and leaned against it with a sigh. One lady with large, sparkling green eyes walked up to the desk from the other side and offered the blond a cheerful smile. Her smile was pretty and inviting. Behind her were two other women, chatting and eating their lunches.

Shizuo finally realised how hungry he was and wondered if he should pick up some lunch from the hospital cafeteria.

“Hiya,” The receptionist drawls joyously, “How can I help you?”

Shizuo pulled out his phone, clearing his throat. “I’m here for Heiwajima? Room K-10,” He mumbled as he reread Ruri’s message. The receptionist nods and types in Kasuka’s name to look him up in the hospital’s records. Shizuo pocketed his phone and peered around, praying that he wouldn’t see the flea abomination.

The receptionist coughed to catch Shizuo’s attention. “Room K-10. My files won’t load for some reason, but our internet is always spotty,” She apologised with a sheepish smile, but shrugged, “If he isn’t there, come back here and I’ll figure it out for you.”

It was workers like her that Shizuo enjoyed. People who actually took pride in being helpful and humble. The receptionist smiled her pretty smile again when he nodded, stuffing his hands into his jeans pockets and turning for the hospital’s directory. Hallway K shouldn’t be too hard to find at all. Or so he hoped.

 

**_-% &-_ **

 

Tom figured that he could take the rest of his day off due to Shizuo’s day off. After all, if Shizuo could take a day to see his brother, then Tom wouldn’t be throttled for taking a break from dragging out money from shady debtors. Besides, his job was tedious and a day to relax from it all sounded heavenly.

As he walked nearing the streets of Ikebukuro, his phone buzzed. Tom prayed it wasn’t Shizuo. It had only been about twenty minutes. Looking at his cellphone, he’s prepared to toss away his day off. Luckily, it’s only Ruri-chan.

 

 **> HR:**  _Hello Tom. Hope I’m not bothering or anything, but Kasuka-kun wanted you to relay a message to Shizuo-san for him. He’s been transferred to Ikebukuro to see his usual doctors. Someone on set mixed up his files and had him sent to Shinjuku._

> _It’s nothing bad or anything, just a misunderstanding. Tell Shizuo for him._

> _Shizuo-san wasn’t answering his phone, so._

> **TT:** _Sure Ruri-san! I’m sure he’ll reply eventually or when he figures it out, he’ll be on his way. Tell Heiwajima-kun not to worry about anything._

 

Tom snapped his phone shut and pocketed it. So the whole walk had been a waste of time, but at least it was relaxing! He wondered why Shizuo wouldn’t answer his phone. He supposed if he was looking for Kasuka…

Tom shrugged it off as he strolled along, hoping Kasuka would reunite with his brother soon.

 

_**-% &-** _

 

_K-8, K-9... K-10!_

Shizuo removed his hands from his jeans pockets and knocked gently on the door. “Kasuka, it’s me, Shizuo,” He called.

door opened not even four seconds later and Shizuo expected to see Hijiribe’s worried expression greeting him, but a man in doctor’s scrubs was there instead.

“Hello. Are you Shizuo?” The man asked curiously. The glint in his eye was playful as if he already knew who Shizuo was.

“Come in. We’ve been waiting for you. Kasuka talked about you quite a bit.” The man said, moving aside.

Shizuo chuckled a little as he followed the man in.

“Is he alright?” The blond asked anxiously, “It’s not too bad, right?”

The doctor shook his head with a laugh of his own, “Oh no, he’s fine! Right, and my name is Kagemori.” He introduced himself sweetly. Shizuo held out his hand and the doctor shook it firmly.

“Nice to meet you,” Shizuo hums out pleasantly.

Once in the room, Shizuo is surprised to find the gurney empty and the lights off.

He frowned, “Did Kasuka get moved…?” He asked hesitantly, eyebrows furrowing. Kagemori leaned against the gurney, pulling his surgical mask off his mouth. He smirked at Shizuo with his playful smile. The glint was more malicious than teasing.

“It took a lot of work for Akifumi to get everyone here, you know,” The doctor says.

Shizuo’s fingers curled into a fist. “Don’t.” Kagemori grunted out, checking his watch like he was running out of time, “The room is filled with sleeping gas, the more you exert yourself; You’ll get tired faster. I think you’ll want to hear what I have to say! It might just help you out in the future.”

Shizuo snarled at him, “What did you do to Kasuka?! I’ll kill you!” His anger decreased as he spoke, proving that the sleeping gas was already in use.

“Nothing,” Kagemori promised, “I just had to let him fall a little. Get a little banged up so that I could send him here until you showed up. My target was never Kasuka. And honestly, _you’re_ not even my target.”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Shizuo said breathlessly. His legs were buckling and his eyes felt heavy.

“I work for a man who wants to shatter the world of the Awakusu-Kai’s undefeated intelligence. His name is Akifumi. His target is someone you know well. If you didn’t, well, you wouldn’t be here,” The doctor’s voice is far cheerful as he watches Shizuo collapse onto the ground, eyes fluttering shut, but fighting to stay open.

Kagemori walked over to the blond’s figure on the floor and squatted beside him. “The elevator moves every fifteen minutes. After an hour, it’ll explode, destroying the whole thing, alright?” He explains to the barely conscious Shizuo, who’s hands clench uselessly.

“Also,” The doctor adds as the blond’s vision has started to fade to black, “Remember that Kishitani and yourself _aren’t_ the targets.”

 

Then, Shizuo’s world goes black.

 

_**-% &-** _

 

“Let’s go for sushi, Shinra!” Izaya says brightly. His arm is linked with Shinra’s, and Shinra has never felt so displeased in his whole life.

“Fine. But we split the bill. The last time you ate on my dime, you ordered the most expensive sushi and then made _me_ pay for it,” Shinra complained, trying to unlink their arms. Izaya smiled mischievously, “Oh alright, I _guess_ I’ll help pay. Although, I seem to have misplaced my wallet. I bet Shizu-chan has something to do with it, don’t you agre-”

“Izaya,” Shinra’s eyes crackled, “I’ll seriously castrate you.”

Izaya’s eyes enlarged slightly, trying to pull away from his friend. Shinra turned the tables and held onto the informant’s arm tighter as they walked. Izaya decided to laugh it off as they walked.

“What restaurant were you thinking about going to?” Shinra asked.

The informant shrugged, “Not sure. Not Russia Sushi though. I’m not in the mood to see Shizu-chan today. I’ve dealt with one monster today. I don’t think I can deal with two of them today.” Shinra rolled his eyes, “Oh, shut up. You purposely go to look for him, Izaya.”

The informant snickered, “Oops.”

The hairs on the back of Shinra’s neck and the way Izaya’s arm tensed against his let Shinra know that Izaya sensed it too.

 

“ _Get down!_ ”

Everyone in the hallway ignored the warning. Shinra felt Izaya’s arm rip away from their link and push the doctor’s body backwards, roughly. A ringing filled Shinra’s ears as a loud _bang_ resonated around them. Smoke and fire engulfed the area in front of Shinra as he fell backwards from Izaya’s shove. He landed on the tiled floor, skidding along it. Izaya hurried up to him, shouting at him. Shinra couldn’t hear him though.

He stared at his friend blankly. The fur on his black coat was singed and his eyes were wild. He was grabbing at Shinra’s arm, pulling him to his feet. Shinra tried to block out the ringing in his ears as the two of them ran down the hallway, passing dozens of other screaming patients, visitors, and staff.

“Shinra! Shinra? Can you hear me?” Izaya gasped out, yanking his friend along.

The doctor didn’t respond.

The informant couldn’t tell if Shinra was in shock or if the explosion had ruptured his ear drums. Whatever the case, Izaya was dragging along the physician away from the explosion.

_Who would launch an attack like this on a hospital? An enemy of Awakusu-Kai?!_

He yanked Shinra to the right down another hallway labelled K-Hallway. It was deserted of people who’d probably evacuated from the sound of an explosion. The fire alarms were blaring and about four more loud explosions could be heard. _Who would bomb a hospital? That’s madness!_

He stopped running to catch his breath and addressed the scorched fur on the hood of his jacket. Shinra was messing with his ears, shaking his head and growing visibly more and more panicked. “Izaya?!” He calls. He sounds so panicked and afraid that Izaya can’t even laugh at Shinra’s misfortune. “Izaya…! I-I can’t hear anything!” Shinra squeaks horrified.

 

“ _Hello?!_ ”  
  
Izaya looked away from Shinra, but left a hand on the doctor’s wrist to keep him close by. Hurrying towards them was a doctor in scrubs.

“Are you two alright?” The man asked worriedly, “I’m trying to collect all the stragglers and get them to the evacuation ambulances!”

The doctor’s eyes go to Shinra who stares back blankly. The worry in Shinra’s stormy eyes says enough for the hospital doctor. “Is he hurt?” He asked.

Izaya nodded. “He can’t hear. We were right next to the explosion when it happened,” He explained hastily. The doctor sighed with relief. “Thank goodness you weren’t killed Orihara-kun,” He says honestly.

Izaya almost replies with a thank you, but then he realises. “How do you know my name?” He asks with a dry smirk.

The doctor smiles back. His eyes are no longer kind. “Your reputation of course. It’s filthy,” The man says horridly.

Izaya shrugs. “Oh~? So you’re one of my fans?” He asks tauntingly.

They ignore Shinra’s confused noises.

“Not me,” The man admits, “I’m Kagemori. I’m just a humble messenger.”

Izaya regards him calmly. “And what does a messenger have to say to his God?” He questions happily.

Kagemori glares, “Just a warning. I also have some information that you might like. I hear you like information, Orihara-kun.”

Izaya stays silent.

Namie Yagiri. You gave her the day off. She’s currently with her sibling Seiji Yagiri in Ikebukuro. Furthermore, Shingen Kishitani is in Ikebukuro today as well,” Kagemori lists names of those whom Izaya _might_ care about and Shinra’s father, who Shinra _definitely_ cares about.

“If you’re to deny this message I’m relaying, the people I have mentioned prior will be assassinated seconds after you deny this request,” Kagemori tells him.

Shinra’s eyebrows are curved into an arch of panic. Izaya wonders if he’s regained the ability to hear.

“What’s the request, then?” Izaya spits out, arms crossing over his chest.

Kagemori nods to Izaya’s jacket. “You might want to get that,” He said.  
  
As if it’s a routine, as if it’s planned; right on cue, Izaya’s phone rings.

The informant glared at the man before him. He flipped open his phone and answered it haughtily. “Hello?”

“Ah, Orihara-kun!” The voice is happy, but disgusted as the same time, “I see you survived the first round of explosions! You play games nicely.”

Izaya frowned.

“Who is this?” He asks.

“Nobody important right now. What I need you to do right now is step into that elevator, please.”

 

Another cue and the K-Hallway elevator slides open. It pisses the informant off.

“Say. Let’s say I don’t give a flying ant’s ass about Namie-chan, or her brother, or Kishitani. What then? You’ve got nothing on me!~” Izaya declares.

“Pride is a sin, Orihara-kun. You might want to tone it down,” The caller says sweetly.

The click of a gun sounds from behind Izaya.

He whirls, seeing Shinra quivering before a loaded pistol. His grey eyes are filled with confusion and fear. His hands are held up as if it’ll save him, like he isn’t depending on Izaya to save him.

“How do you plead now, Orihara-kun?” The voice nearly sings out.

Izaya thought- which was terrible. It shouldn’t have taken him as long as it did to decide on whether or not Shinra was worth it.

Izaya doesn’t reply to the caller, but holds up his hands and walks towards the open elevator.

He froze before walking in.

_No…_

He grasped the phone tightly. The person on the other line must’ve known what he saw. A laugh echoed across the telephone line. “Is there a problem, Orihara-kun?” The person asked with a chuckle.

“What is this? Some kind of sick prank?” Izaya demanded, staring into the elevator with a disgusted scowl on his face.

“Not quite. I heard you like games and I thought you might wish to try mine,” The caller tells him happily.

Shinra’s boots squeaked against the floor as Kagemori gave the doctor a gentle shove.

“I’m sorry,” Is all he says, “But you have to be in there with them.”

Shinra’s eyebrows knit. “Them?” He repeats, walking over to stand beside Izaya and gasps.

On the ground of the elevator was an unconscious Shizuo Heiwajima.

His torso had been covered by a thin windbreaker and he looked angry.

 _Even in slumber_ , Izaya thinks, _he glares like a villain._

Shinra hurried into the elevator, pushing past Izaya, who tried to grab the doctor’s sleeve.

“Shinra- No!” He yelps, tumbling into the elevator when his grip on Shinra’s labcoat fails.

Kagemori takes advantage of Izaya’s fall. He stands before them.

“Thank you for cooperating,” He says.

Izaya stares incredulously, “ _Cooperating-”_ He never finishes.

The elevator doors slid shut, silencing the shouts from Shinra and Izaya.

 

Shinra knelt beside Shizuo and gripped his arm to check his pulse. He hoped the man was still alive. Izaya, on the other hand, went to the doors to try and pry them open.

“It’s stuck-!” He ground out.

Shinra doesn’t answer him. Instead he’s trying to wake up his other friend desperately.

“Izaya! Look, we’re stuck in here. It’s your fault, but I’m going to put that aside for now because I would very much like to get out of here alive and _then I will rip your damn head off,_ ” Shinra hisses, “Come help me wake up Shizuo.”

The informant gapes at the physician. “Are you kidding? Wake up the beast? He’ll kill us before we can even figure out what the _hell_ is going on!” Izaya snapped.

Shizu-chan was the absolute _last_ person he wanted to be locked in an elevator with. Namie-chan would’ve been more bearable, and she got cranky in tight spaces!

“ _Izaya_ …,” Shinra breathes out, “Look at this.”

Izaya turned around to argue with Shinra some more, but his voice was stuck in his throat. Shinra had moved the windbreaker from around Shizuo’s torso.

Strapped to the blond’s chest was an explosive with a timer that read 120:00. Neither of them spoke for a very long time.

When Shinra finally does speak, his voice is choked and anxious, “Well, this does complicate a few things, doesn’t it?”

 

Then the elevator drops.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fyi, 120:00 is two hours :>


	3. disarm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow would you look at that; a wild E.E chapter appears.  
> yikes, i'm so sorry i haven't been sticking to my "updates weekly" promise. i've been dedicating my writing motivation into my bungou stray dogs fics (mostly smut fuck me smh) and just downright procrastinating. hopefully, this lovely chapter of shinra suffering physically and mentally will make it up to you all!! ♡  
>   
>  _ **my sweetheart, who edited this POS like two months ago; sleep deprived and unfocused**_ : yeah it's good  
>  _ **me, a dyslexic individual; adding new things, changing the entire thing w/o her editing, and copy-pasting the chapter into AO3**_ : ok cool :)))

Izaya Orihara doesn’t have many fears. If he named them all, the list wouldn’t even fill half of a paper. However, he was getting absurdly close to writing  _ claustrophobia  _ down on that list. His pale fingers were latched so tightly around the handles of the elevator car that his knuckles had turned a harsh white colour.

It had been about eight minutes since his last heart attack when the elevator had literally let out a horrid snapping sound and  _ dropped  _ so suddenly that Izaya had stumbled back and smacked his head against the wall of the elevator. The pain in his head was then magnified due to Shinra’s fearful shrieking. The doctor hadn’t moved since the fall; he was still clinging to the handlebars and refusing to let go. The drop slowed eventually and halted abruptly, sending Izaya spiralling to the floor beside Shizuo, who still wasn’t awake (despite all the movement going on). He’d picked himself up and held onto the other handlebars, praying that the elevator wouldn’t move anymore.

Shinra’s grey eyes opened, his pupils were enormous and Izaya might’ve said they were fake if they weren’t in such a situation. The informant figured that his own eyes were probably bloodshot and wild as well.

“I don’t want to move,” Shinra admits with a strained whisper, “but I need to get that  _ thing  _ off Shizuo.”

Izaya nodded. Normally, he would’ve told his friend to just let the damn protozoan just explode and they could escape, but with a precarious elevator and an active bomb; Izaya didn’t like his chances of survival.

“What kind of game is this anyway? Strapping an active bomb to someone and stuffing three people into an unsturdy elevator? Sounds like murder win or lose,” Shinra scoffed.

Izaya shrugged. His friend was right though. This game that he was being made to play was absolutely cryptic. He could understand Shinra’s participation, but  _ why Shizu-chan? _ Izaya couldn’t give a  _ rat’s ass _ about Shizuo Heiwajima. Furthermore, who was this Kagemori person? He’d said he was only a messenger for the man over the phone. Izaya took one hand off the bar and checked his phone. He sighed seeing the number was a restricted one.

_ How typical. _

“I don’t get this either. But I do think getting that ridiculous bomb off Shizu-chan is a good idea,” Izaya says to Shinra. The doctor looks around thoughtfully.

“We haven’t moved for a while, but I don’t know what kind of sick trap this is. I’d rather not trigger it again,” Shinra groans out.

Izaya nods in agreement, “Move towards him slowly. The last time it dropped, there was a snapping noise. If you hear it, drop everything and grab that bar.”

Shinra swallows and hesitantly lets go of the handle bar. The elevator doesn’t move. Izaya gulps as the doctor made way towards his medical bag. He moved slowly, taking each step almost reluctantly. His left hand was subtly reaching backwards for the handlebars as a precaution. He brushed the handles of his medical bag.

Izaya shifted uncomfortably. Shinra grabbed his medical bag and hurried back towards the handlebars with a tiny little squeak.

Izaya would have laughed in literally  _ any  _ other situation.

“Izaya,” Shinra calls, “Please come over here. I need another hand.”

Izaya frowns.

“What for?” He asks, letting go of his bar.

Shinra held up his bag, “I need two hands to open this and I’m not letting go of this bar.”

Izaya figured that was reasonable. He slowly and carefully made his way over to his friend.

“Pull on that zipper right there, would you?” Shinra instructs. Izaya tugged on it and they successfully opened the medical bag together.

“Okay, now hold onto it while I get out a knife. I’m going to cut that bomb off of him.” Shinra explains.

Izaya bit his lip and gripped one of the straps of Shinra’s bag. The doctor reached into the bag, digging around for a few moments before pulling out a small knife. It looked like the knife Namie used to cut Izaya’s favourite cherry tomatoes in half with. Izaya found that he was extremely hungry.

He and Shinra never did get to attend their lunch date.

“Okay, follow me over to Shizuo. I might need to use my scalpel instead.” Shinra continues as he inched his way towards the brute.

“I don’t want to get close to him. Don’t you know dogs smell bad?” Izaya retorts, following the doctor with a disdainful snort. Shinra rolled his eyes, “Shut up, Izaya.”

He brought his leg back and connected it into the informant’s shin. Izaya yelped, scowling.

Shinra let go of the handlebar again to kneel beside Shizuo’s figure. Izaya’s eyebrows drew together in concern. “Shinra, I don’t think you should let go of the handles,” He urged nervously.

Shinra was about to answer him, but Shizuo flinched. His long lashes twitching against his skin. Izaya swears his heart stopped for the fourth time that day. The man’s eyebrows knit as if he were in deep thought. Shinra backed away, grabbing the handle again.

“I didn’t want to deal with this so early.” He whispered to Izaya.

Shizuo frowned as his eyes opened and peered around blankly. He was visibly groggy and exhausted.

_ "Oh.  _ He's awake." Izaya grumbles, face hovering above Shizuo's with a disgusted sneer. Shizuo scowled deeply, repulsed at the sight of waking up to that ruby eyed bag of actual  _ shit. _ He spurred into action, however before any real damage could be done; Shinra latched two steady hands on Shizuo's shoulders and restrained the man from moving as best as he could.

"Okay listen," His voice pitched to octaves that Shizuo never even knew existed. The doctor's arms were visibly straining from trying to hold back the blond as he continued his explanation.

"Stay calm, and try  _ really  _ hard not to panic," Shinra says, earning a cruel snort from Izaya.

Shizuo bat the doctor's hands away and tried to sit up. Shinra moved to stand in front of the informant, subtly trying to protect him.

"Where the hell are we? What the fuck is this?" Shizuo demanded, standing up and immediately falling back against the wall of the tiny room they were in.

_ Is this a fuckin' elevator? _

His head was swimming and he felt unnaturally drowsy. Somehow, this was all the flea's fault, he was sure of that. Shinra held out his hands worriedly. "You should really sit, Shizuo…," He suggested, eyes on the taller man's chest.

Izaya scoffed, "How 'bout we strap a bomb to you and see how calm  _ you _ feel, Shinra."

The doctor narrowed his eyes at the informant and snapped at him, "Izaya. So help me God, if you make him angry."

" _ Bomb _ _?_ " Shizuo asked, nose wrinkling as he grew even more annoyed waiting for Shinra to move out of the way so he could pulverise the flea. Shinra poked gently at his chest with a solemn expression.

Strapped to Shizuo's torso is a timer activated explosive that read 02:00.

_ Woah... Wha- _

" _ Please _ ." Shinra wheezed out, "Stay fucking calm."

Shizuo glared at the doctor. “What the hell do you mean stay calm?!” He demanded, fingers hooking onto the straps of the explosive.

In a quick, single movement Shinra slapped the blond’s hand. _Hard_. So hard that even  Shinra reeled back from his actions and cradled his hand into his chest. Surprisingly, Shizuo didn’t get mad and instead stared in shock at his friend.

“What was that for?” He asked incredulously.

“We don’t know what will detonate it or start that  _ damn  _ count down,” Shinra hissed, “So why don’t you put your head on straight before you kill us all!”

Izaya gaped at the doctor dumbfounded. He never figured anyone besides himself would have the guts to slap and yell at the beast. He was actually a little impressed with the doctor for taming and putting a temporary leash on the wild dog.

Shizuo dropped his hands to his sides and exhaled deeply. “Fine, right. I’m sorry Shinra,” He mutters before looking around. Shinra’s shoulders hunch over with relief.

“It’s fine. Let me fill you in on what’s going on and then I’ll try and cut that bomb off you. It’ll be more effective than just ripping it off like an idiot.” Shinra says gently.

Izaya snickers, “You got the idiot part right.”

“Shut the  _ hell  _ up Izaya. We,” Shinra motions towards himself and Shizuo, “Are in this mess because of  _ you _ ! So if we die in here or explode; I blame  _ you _ .”

Shizuo cocked an eyebrow, “Of course it’s  _ your  _ damn fault. Flea-shit, what did you do?”

Izaya shrugged. “A man came up to us after an explosive terrorist attack occurred on the hospital. He told me he was a messenger for the person behind all this,” Izaya explains sneering at Shizuo the whole time, “He made us get into this elevator and you were in there all dead and stupid looking.”

The blond scowled at him, but was held back by Shinra’s iron gaze.

Shizuo glanced at the explosive on his chest. Shinra poked at it again. “Wanna tell us how you got that?” He asked curiously.

Shizuo shoved the doctor’s hands away. “My brother got hurt on set- (“Kasuka-kun?! Is he okay?!” Shinra cried. “Yes, now shut it, I’m explainin’ everything, ya pervert!”) and they had him driven to Shinjuku in an ambulance. Ruri-chan texted me and told me to come to him. I did, but he wasn’t here since apparently the doctors sent him to Ikebukuro after he was stabilised,” Shizuo told them, “Anyways, when I got to Kasuka’s room, he wasn’t there but this asshole was there instead and drugged me I guess. Kagemi or something. He had a shitty name that I won’t ever remember.”

“Kagemori?” Shinra inquires with a dark look. Shizuo snapped his fingers and said, “That’s the one!”

Izaya and Shinra met eyes. “That’s the same guy that I said was the messenger of the mastermind behind this whole elevator bullshit,” The informant exclaims.

Shizuo taps his fingers against the handlebars of the compartment with a groan. “I want to kill him,” He snarls to nobody, and about nobody in particular.

Shinra rolled his eyes. “Well, you can’t kill anyone right  _ now _ . We’re going to get along and get out of here alive,” He said and looked at Izaya with disgust, “ _ After _ we’re out, you can kill Orihara and I  _ won’t  _ stop you this time.”

The informant shot his friend a sour look.

 

There was an loud snapping noise and they all froze.

Shinra was able to let out an incoherent screech before the elevator plummeted yet again.

Izaya’s eyes slammed shut as he held onto the handlebars, forcing himself to stay upright. Even after a few seconds did his arms start to ache. There was a tremor in the bars and Izaya opened his eyes to look.

The metal handle were starting to crinkle up like paper.

_ Shizuo! _

Glancing behind him, Shizuo was wild-eyed and holding onto the handles just like the other two. Izaya could see all the questions and concerns that the protozoan could have whirling around in his tiny brain. However, his ridiculous strength was destroying the one thing keeping them from smashing into the walls.

“Are you crazy?!” Shinra howled at the blond, “Stop holding on so tight, you’re going to break it!”

Izaya watched as Shizuo’s hands loosened his hold. The elevator jerked roughly. Shinra lost one of his holds and he smacked into one of the walls with a bone shattering,  _ crack! _

He was yelling in pain, but Izaya couldn’t even hear him over the sound of Shizuo accidentally yanking out his handlebar.

“Shizu-chan-!” Izaya shrieked at him in horror, “What have you done!?”   


The blond lunged towards the informant, who shut his eyes again preparing to be crushed by the damn brute. However, nothing happened to his delight and shock.

He peeked through lidded eyes and glared back and up at Shizuo, who’d grabbed the bar beside Izaya’s hands. The broken handlebar hit the ceiling with a loud bang and smashed a few of the electrical lights, dimming the entire elevator.

Shinra shrieked like a wild dog when the broken glass and ceiling chunks rained down onto him. “Are you  _ fucking  _ kidding me?!” He hollered, holding onto his new handle for dear life.

“I’ll  _ kill  _ you for this, Shizuo!” Izaya swore as the handle he hung onto started to scrunch up from Shizuo’s immense strength as well.

The elevator slowed and like before, abruptly stopped. Shizuo’s grip vanished and he fell backwards away from the wall. Shinra and the broken handlebar crashed to the floor loudly.

Glancing at the wall with the floor buttons, Izaya finds that they’d fallen down  _ four  _ consecutive floors in the two sudden drops.

Shizuo sat up and spat out a few swear words. He stood eventually and took the informant by the shirt with a death glare. Izaya, still in shock from the fall, tugged at the blond’s hands.

“I’m going to  _ kill  _ you. Right here, right now.” Shizuo growled. Izaya scowled back, “Not if I kill you first you absolute monster! Look what you’ve done!”

“If  _ you  _ hadn’t been  _ fucking  _ around like you always do;  _ None  _ of this would have happened! I’ll kill you, Izaya! I’ll fucking kill you!”

Shizuo got ready to slam the informant into the wall and break his neck, but suddenly stopped when Shinra threw a shard of the broken electrical at the blond, hitting him square in the leg.

“No, Shizuo!” He wailed from the glass covered floor. He was in a heap, gasping and coming down from the shock of the falling elevator for the second time.

“Why shouldn’t I?” Shizuo demanded, hoisting Izaya off his feet. The informant wriggled around uselessly, spewing curses.

“This whole trap was for  _ him _ , not us!” Shinra rasped standing up and leaning against the wall, “If he dies, there won’t be a need for us. We’re here because of  _ him _ . Think about this carefully, Shizuo!”

The blond grit his teeth, gaze locked on the doctor. For once, to Izaya, it was cold and calculating. Eventually, and thankfully, he lowered the informant back to the ground with a scoff. “Don’t worry,” He threatened the flea, “I’ll kill you when we get out of here.”

Izaya sneered at him. “100¥ says you can’t, Shizu-chan. You couldn’t then. WHat makes you think anything has chang-- Ow!” He screeched in pain.

Shinra tugged the informant’s ear with a scornful snort. “Not if I kill him first, Shizuo,” He inputs with a scowl.

Izaya’s eye twitched, intrigued by the death threats he received by both his friend and rival.

“How about,” He suggests with a shrug, “We try and get that explosive off of Shizu-chan before he gets mad and detonates it: killing us all.”

Shinra shook his head. He’d totally forgotten about the timer and bomb strapped to his friend. He inspected it again. He let Izaya off the hook.

For now.

“A timer of two hours and velcro straps? You could easily rip this right off,” Shinra notes. Shizuo raised an eyebrow and spoke skeptically, “Didn’t you stop me from doing that before?”

Shinra waved his hand.

“Nevermind what I said, I’m gonna cut this off of you.” He states sternly and pulled out his scalpel again, both hands reluctantly leaving the handlebars and reaching up to Shizuo’s arm.

“Try not to move.” The doctor pleads as he begins sawing at the thick velcro fabric straps. It loosens and almost cuts free, but Shinra halts when a small note card falls out from behind the metal box containing the explosive.

“What’s that?” Izaya asked, stooping over to pick it up. He flipped the card over to reveal small, neat, handwritten notes on it. The name  _ Shizuo Heiwajima _ is penned in bigger, bolder letters. The informant logically infers it’s for Shizuo.

He handed it to the man, who read it with furrowed brows,

 

“ _ Shizuo. I am guessing that you will have forgotten my instructions by the time you wake up. I assume Orihara-kun or Kishitani-kun will find and read this. Either way, here are some important things you may want to keep in mind. The elevator drops every fifteen minutes-" _

 

“What the hell? Why couldn’t you tell us that?” Izaya asks harshly, “That would’ve been nice to know and now one of the damn handlebars is broken off!”

Shizuo glares. “How was I supposed to remember!?” He protests.

_ What a protozoan! _

Shizuo continued to read nevertheless.

 

“ _ After an hour, the elevator will explode with all of you in it. Shizuo’s bomb will start counting down as soon as you depart the elevator compartment. If you attempt to remove it, it will automatically detonate. If you can get to the roof before it explodes, the mastermind behind all of this will disarm Shizuo’s explosive. Another note is that you cannot contact anyone outside of this hospital. No help, this is a game played solo. _

_ I hope this is helpful for all of you. Best of luck, Orihara-kun. Signed: Kagemori Kazuya.” _

 

Shizuo crumpled the paper and tossed it to Shinra who stuffed it into his lab coat pockets for safe keeping. “I want to kill this guy too,” Shizuo grunts out. Shinra sighs softly, “We can’t kill anyone until we get out of here-  _ if _ we get out of here.”

Izaya crossed his arms over his chest. “At least we know when the elevator will drop so we can prepare for it. Every fifteen minutes is a good time limit. But when we get out, we’ll have to move to a solid standing area insanely fast or it’ll fall with us on top of it,” He suggests urgently, “ It’s been about seven minutes already. We should start planning an escape before this damn thing falls again. It’s already been half an hour with these two drops already. We have about another half hour before the elevator explodes altogether. We need to react  _ now _ .”

Shizuo nods hesitantly, “I don’t know if I can handle another fall.”

The informant almost pointed out that he’d only experienced  _ one _ fall since he’d been unconscious the first time, but thought better of it. Shinra put his scalpel away and zipped up his medical bag.

“I say we can try escaping through the vents on the ceiling! You know, like in the movies!” He proposes with a flourish. Shizuo regards him skeptically, “You need to watch  _ real  _ television shows. Like National Geographic or something.”

Shinra chucked as he peered at the ceiling for a potential opening.

“Is that what you watch, Shizu-chan? I wonder if that's where you learned how to act like a beast!” Izaya proclaims tauntingly.

“Why  _ you- _ ”

Shizuo doesn’t get any time to respond as Shinra’s pulling him away. “Boost me up, I’m getting us out of here so you can shut Izaya up faster,” The doctor orders and Shizuo grumbles with resentment. He wrapped his thin arms around Shinra’s waist and hoisted him upwards towards the damaged ceiling.

  
  


“This better work Kishitani. I’d like to kill him as soon as possible.”

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> but who actually watches national geographic?  
> 


	4. escape.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Izaya will never be taller than Shinra.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heya kids! i'm finally squeezing in an E.E chapter after, you know, _decades_. as per usual. i guess you could say for Halloween, i'm _not_ going to be fucking disappointment! well... actually, maybe a little since this chapter is unsatisfactorily SHORt and it almost completely consists of Shinra Kishitani doing nothing, but suffering.  
>  i suppose, if you really wanted to figure out who my favourite character, all you really have to do is see which person i bully the most in my fics... anyways! this is, as i mentioned before, short and unfortunately just a filler chapter but i do hope you enjoy <3
> 
> > NOTE: pilot & disarm will be undergoing **_MAJOR_** editing and rewriting so look out for that!

Izaya Orihara has never once before attended a circus. While the strange arts of acrobatics and cheap parlor tricks entertained him sometimes, he didn’t have to go very far to find his own circus. The one he’s currently attending is an act of two: one Shizuo Heiwajima and one Shinra Kishitani.

Shizuo’s arms are wrapped tightly around Shinra’s hips, propelling him upwards towards the sparking ceiling of the elevator shaft they’ve all been trapped inside of. Shinra’s swaying all around since Shizuo can’t seem to stay still either. It’s a God damned spectacle and Izaya’s confused as to why the elevator hasn’t dropped yet and just killed the two idiots. Unfortunately, they’ve got ten more minutes until they defy gravity.

None of the three really prefer being smashed to death in a smelly hospital elevator.

“Fucking Christ,” Shizuo growled as he stepped back to accommodate Shinra’s swaying, “How much do you weigh?” He looked up and his chin dug harshly into the doctor’s back making him wince in pain. Shinra was doing a fantastic impression of a stretched cat, trying to extend his body more than it could physically could and his hands just barely reached the ceiling vent.

He strained a few more times and rolled his eyes, resisting the growing urge to slap Shizuo’s head—not like it would do much since his skull was so thick. “My weight has nothing to do with this, Shizuo,” He chided irritated, “You’re the one who lifted me in the most unhelpful way possible.”

Shizuo scowled as he tried to stretch himself up even more. “The fuck is that supposed to mean? How else was I supposed to do this?” He asked gruffly as Shinra dropped his hands to his sides with an exasperated grunt. Izaya giggled unhelpfully.

“You could’ve put Shinra on your back, Shizu-chan,” He says tauntingly and both Shizuo and Shinra shoot an angry glare at him. Shinra taps Shizuo’s shoulder, silently asking for release. The blond released his hold with a snort and Shinra screeched like a wild animal as he free fell from Shizuo’s arms.

The doctor dusted himself off as he stood up straight and cracked his back. “I knew your intelligence was crap, but I’m starting to think this ‘Strongest Man of Ikebukuro’ is a load too,” He spits, stormy eyes glaring at his friend.

“Please don’t make me kill you,” Shizuo replied flatly.

Shinra scoffed, “As if.”

He turned to Izaya and pursed his lips. The informant was smaller in height, but believably more adequately fit in the strength department. He had to at least have some good leg muscles from running all the time. Shinra can’t imagine that either of his two friends would be pleased with his new plan. However, they’re rapidly running out of time to get out of the elevator shaft. Shinra is not eager to fall a  _ third  _ time.   
Especially if Shizuo is going to continuously break the elevator.

“Izaya, you’re going to hate this but if you don’t do it, I’ll shove a medical knife so far up your ass that I’ll have to shove a rag down there to clean it,” Shinra threatens with dark eyes. The informant looked appalled and enraged by that comment but spits out a  _ ‘what’ _ .

Shizuo laughed humorously.

Shinra motioned towards Shizuo and Izaya’s face drained of its colour. The blond was no longer laughing either. They seem to catch on and Shinra is almost impressed by it.

“I need you to climb on Shizuo’s back and pop that vent for us,” the doctor instructed, “Before you argue with me, you have to understand that you’re more fit for this job. You’re taller and stronger.” He put his hands together and pleads internally that they’ll just do as he says.

Izaya looks infuriated by it and Shizuo looks no better, but the informant removed his hands from the pockets of his fur-lined coat and moved to stand next to Shizuo. Shinra’s impressed, but he stands in front of Shizuo.

“Okay, Shizuo. Crouch down and let Izaya get on your-”

“Fuck off, Kishitani! I know how this works!” Shizuo snapped and leant down, eyes twitching within their sockets. This is, by far, the most aggravating and humiliating thing he’s ever done ever.

Izaya doesn’t look enthusiastic about it as he reluctantly latches his ringed fingers onto Shizuo’s shoulders and hoist himself up. Shinra moves to help Izaya up onto Shizuo’s shoulders. For a good thirty seconds, the two boys use the blond as fucking jungle gym and successfully mount Izaya onto his shoulders. The rivals looks absolutely miserable.

“If you tell anyone about this, Kishitani, I’m coming for your neck. Even Celty won’t stop me,” Shizuo threatens as he turns away and moves to position Izaya under the ceiling vent. Shinra chuckled and stood behind them, holding out his hands to spot them just in case Shizuo decided to drop Izaya like a sack of potatoes.

Which was pretty high up on the ‘likely’ scale.

Izaya reached his hands up and pushed against the ceiling vent with a grunt. When it wouldn’t budge, he tried a few more times before giving up and straining his body upwards to see it. He fell back down and twisted to face Shinra.

“Hand me a scalpel,” He orders quickly, “There are screws.”

Shinra nods and scrambles for his medical bag. Shizuo coughed nervously.

“How much more time we got until it drops?” He asked and Izaya tugged up the sleeve of his jacket to check his watch. “About seven minutes. Which leaves a small ass time to find a ledge to grab onto when and  _ if  _ we get out of here,” He replies worriedly.

Shinra handed the informant a scalpel and Izaya immediately began unscrewing the panel, letting the little screws fall to the floor. He returned the knife without looking at the doctor and turned to jut his elbow against the vent. There was a loud clanging noise and it clattered to the ground.

All three boys breathed out a sigh of relief.

 

Izaya muttered an apology to Shizuo as he awkwardly pushed off him, reaching his hands up through the vent, pulling himself out. Shizuo rolled his eyes and squatted down to let Shinra climb on.

The doctor collected his medical bag and handed it off to Shizuo, who gave it to Izaya. Shinra got onto Shizuo’s shoulders and was brought to the ceiling. Izaya offered a hand to him, but he smacked it away and pulled himself up. Izaya glared in betrayal.

“So you could reach,” He snapped, “There’s no fucking universe where I’m taller than you, fuckface.” Shinra’s stormy grey eyes narrowed with mischief and he shrugged. “It helped you and strength-for-brains get along so I don’t see a problem here,” He replied flatly.

Shizuo coughed harshly. “Whenever you lovebirds are done whispering to one another, I’d like to get out of this shitty elevator too,” He snapped. Shinra sighed and reached his hand down to the blond with Izaya’s.

A few pulled muscles and cuss words later, all three elevator occupants were standing within the inner shaft, looking around in awe at it. It was incredibly dark, but the flickering light from the elevator lit up the darkness well enough for them to see that there was no ledge anywhere nearby. A five minute climbing time made their radius pretty miniscule.

“This makes things hard,” Shinra grumbled and walked around the top of the elevator, muttering to himself. Shizuo watched him as he attempted to control his building rage. The hope they had for only brief seconds is now gone.

Izaya sat down on a few cable boxes with a grunt. “The elevator is currently on a floor ledge, meaning if we wanted to live: We’d have to jump at a very specific time or we’ll free fall,” He explains and Shizuo kicked at the elevator wires.

“What if,” Shinra begins whilst staring at the walls of the elevator shaft, “We hold onto one of these and wall-climb down to the ledge after the elevator falls? To be honest, we don’t have much of a choice here. Our stamina isn’t too good so climbing all the way up to the floor above is not ideal. We’ll have to do either my, or Orihara’s idea.”

They’re all silent for a good forty seconds. Shizuo scoffs, “We’re completely wasting time. We’ve got like two minutes left before this hunk of metal drops and this time we are  _ not _ in ‘safe’ conditions to do that. Flea-shit’s idea is way too risky. Let’s do your’s, Shinra.”

A few glances are exchanged before they all collectively hurried to the wall closest to the ledge that they can drop onto to escape the elevator shaft. The walls were dirty and grimy, oil and unknown material sticking to their hands as they climbed up together.

“Shinra, you stay there,” Izaya warned, “Your weight is heavier than Shizu-chan and I because of your medical bag.” Shizuo glanced to his friend and nodded. The doctor didn’t argue against that and stayed put. They waited in silence, counting seconds. Izaya desperately yearned to look at his watch for an exact time, but refused to remove his hold on the wall.

There’s a snapping noise and Shinra screeches, letting go of the wall out of shock. Izaya’s eyes blew wide as Shinra reached out to regain his lost hold, but missed.

Shizuo’s hand replaced the doctor’s wall hold, deftly, and hoisted Shinra back as the elevator cords went slack and the elevator plummeted into a free fall, shrieking as it plunged down another floor.

Shinra gripped the wall again, panting from his adrenaline rush from earlier. He climbed down towards a ledge that would lead them out and dropped onto it. He collapsed immediately and wheezed out his lungs. Shizuo and Izaya followed suite, worriedly.

Izaya knelt by his friend and seized his arm to pull the doctor to his feet. Shinra leaned on his friend and gripped his medical bag. He motioned to the door tiredly and grinned at Shizuo.

“My liege, if you will?” Shinra says triumphantly and playfully despite almost dropping to his death a few moments ago. Shizuo rolled his eyes and walked to the shut doors, digging his fingers into the space between them and pulled them apart as if ripping paper.

Shinra squatted to the ground and opened his medical bag as light streamed into the elevator shaft from the outside. He pulled out two rolls of gauze and three scalpels that he hides God knows where. He stood back up and joined his friends.

They walked outside into the hospital, which was mostly abandoned, at least it was on the floor they were currently on. Their shoes clicked gently on the tiled floors as they walked. Izaya checked signs around them to figure out where exactly they were.

“The lobby is that way,” Shizuo informs them, pointing towards the left, “We’re supposed to head for the roof so this Akifumi fuckwad can deactivate my bomb.”

Izaya nods, having nearly forgotten about the explosive that’s strapped to the blond’s chest. “Then,” He says agreeably, “We’ll head upwards.”

Shinra stares at his hands with disgust. “I want to find a fucking bathroom first. I have elevator shaft gunk all over my hands. I can’t tend to anybody’s injuries like this. And there’s bound to be survivors after those explosions,” He tells them, “A physician’s hands should always be clean.”

Izaya and Shizuo rolled their eyes together and it makes Shinra’s heart swell. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” He promises and turns away from them to find a restroom, “Do  _ not _ fight or you can help one another get scalpels out of your spleens.”

Both boys gawked at the doctor as he hurried away and out of sight.

Shizuo moved away from Izaya and grumbled, “Isn’t it unsafe for that perverted lunatic to be wanderin’ all over fucking creation like that? Akifumi and his accomplices are still around, aren’t they?” Izaya tapped his chin and thought about it.

“It’s a possibility. I can’t believe  _ you _ of all people is being cautious, Shizu-chan. That’s so uncharacteristic of you,” He chides sweetly. Shizuo’s jaw set as he glowered at the informant. “Unlike you, I respect my friend’s wishes. You’re only breathing right now because we apparently  _ need  _ you alive and because you’re Shinra’s friend,” Shizuo spits.

Izaya laughed coldly, “Likewise, Shizu-chan.”

The blond was silent for a few more seconds before walking off in the direction that Shinra had. Izaya scowled as he watched the blond stalk off with his hands stuffed into his jeans pockets. The informant trudged after him, not verbally wishing to be left alone in some ratty hospital. At least if he was attacked now, he had the beast of Ikebukuro on his side for protection.

After all, Shizuo  _ had _ just indirectly sworn to keep them both safe until the bomb strapped to him was removed by their oppressor.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Izaya asked as he trailed along beside Shizuo who moved away from the informant, sucking his teeth at him in disgust. He motioned towards the restroom signs with an annoyed huff.

“What does it look like, you idiot?” Shizuo scoffs, “I thought you were supposed to be the fucking smart one, Flea-Shit.” Izaya glared at him, offended. “It was just a  _ question _ you absolute  _ buffoon. _ ”

Shizuo opened his mouth to argue for his pride, but stopped himself abruptly. He turned, viciously, to Izaya,  and promptly stuck his hand out and shoved the informant into the wall. “What the  _ fuck  _ is your proble-” Izaya starts and ends up with the blond’s hand smacking over his mouth.

Izaya’s red eyes narrowed as he shoved against Shizuo, irritated and pissed. Shizuo snapped his fingers lightly and pointed worriedly towards the room just beyond the wall he’d pressed Izaya against.

“Shut your fucking mouth, damn flea. Shinra’s in trouble,” Shizuo snarled lowly and Izaya stiffened worriedly. The blond let the flea of the wall and they both peered silently around the wall.

There was a dimly lit hospital room and inside was an extremely tall man in a doctor’s outfit. He reminds Shizuo of that shitty Kagemori guy  from earlier, but this man is entirely different. His expression holds more malice than it does of sadistic enjoyment. That, and he has a gun.

 

A gun pointed directly at Shinra’s head.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lmao shizu chan gay af  
> if you like BNHA/MHA, i've released a new fic called, [storm warning](https://archiveofourown.org/works/16239671)! check it out yo!


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